Hawaii

[John]

Wow, those pics of Haleakala brought back some memories. Especially the walk up the steps and feeling the effects of the lack of 02. I heard the astronauts trained up there in the rover, looks like the moon. I don't recall the condition of the road its been so long ago, but I suppose its pretty good if they have mountain bikers going down it all the time. Oppisite of that would be the road up to Pikes Peak, thats a blast in a rental car! No way on a bike, unless its a dirt bike.

Post up your homie shots anytime Desmo, I really enjoy them.

[DesmoBob]

Did a ride up Tantalus, an old twisty mountain road. It used to be a complete loop, but a landslide over a year ago closed off one end. The road has degraded severely, so unfortunately this ride really wasn't much fun. Potholes, gravel, MOSS. But I was determined to get to the lookout for shots like this:


Afterward, I had some pretty cool encounters with the local Five-0 (popo).

First one was when I was stopped at a red light after the Tantalus run. A Five-0 in his cruiser turned left in front of me... and he flashed me a shaka!!! So I flashed a shaka back at him!!

Later in the day I was on Snake Road (twisty road that runs north of central Oahu). I had JUST slowed down because I had caught up to some cars. Just then, two solobiker cops appeared around a bend heading in the opposite direction. I figured what the hell, so I waved at them... and the officer closest to me waved back!!!

Despite the rain, it turned out to be a nice warm fuzzy day.

[biggnocchi]

Wow, that brings back some memories! I was stationed at NAS Barbers Point for 3 years, with VP-4. There was a pretty cool road on military land that we used to drive up and over into the back of Schofield, I think. There was a pass that had a marker about the pass being used by the Japanese in '41. I was there from '91 to '94.

What I miss... Going to watch polo on the north shore. It wasn't a pompus affair, rather more of a tailgate party. Ginger Baker came out and played polo one Sunday and followed up by doing a musical set with a couple other guys. It was great. I miss Mahi-Mahi sandwiches followed by a good shave-ice. I also miss decent Korean plate-lunch. Can't find any Korean food worth a damn in NC.

Enjoy it over there, and make a point to go to the other islands, I sure wish I did...

[DesmoBob]

Ahhh yeah, that mountain pass by Schofield is Kolekole pass. I've only been on it a couple of times, since I'm a civy and need to get sponsored to go there. It was absolutely beautiful. But now I hear it's degrading too, may be time for a resurfacing soon.

I've been to all the major islands except Lanai. I really REALLY want to go back to Kauai, which has Hawaii's little version of Deal's Gap, called Waimea Canyon.

If you have a few minutes, this is Waimea Canyon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1IuW7jAU-A
The interisland ferry will be online in September... a lot of us Oahu guys are going to be bombarding Kauai I imagine.